Fort Nelson is a community in northeast British Columbia, Canada, within the Northern Rockies Regional Municipality (NRRM).

[3] It held town status prior to 6 February 2009, when it amalgamated with the former Northern Rockies Regional District to form the NRRM,[3][4] becoming its administrative centre.

[7] The Alaska Highway both north and south of Fort Nelson is most often very well plowed in the winter and offers scenic views year round.

[11] After the completion of BC Hydro's natural gas power plant to provide electricity to the region, Fort Nelson experienced true growth.

The closure of both forestry mills officially ended the major economic pillar in 2008, mainly due to the collapse in US housing prices and subprime mortgage crisis.

[13] The Community Forest or boreal caribou protection initiative, with support of local First Nations and Mayor Gary Foster, impacted the potential logging quota and possible areas for new gas well development.

[20] Due to the collapse of LNG price and the closure of the biggest private employer in the local region, Fort Nelson suffered an exodus of residents, including former business owners who cannot find jobs in their birthplace, and amongst the casualties of this economic downturn included the Fort Nelson dollar store.

The owner of the Fort Nelson dollar store told CBC Daybreak North host Carolina de Ryk that '[she] just had no choice but to decide to close and try and make it out of here paying off people I owe money to.

Fort Nelson is colder than anywhere else in British Columbia from November through February, but the mean average temperature during the summer is warmer than coastal areas even far south such as Victoria and comparable to Vancouver.

[1] Approximately 31.92% of Fort Nelson residents over the age of 25 have attained an education beyond a high school certificate or equivalent in the forms of trades, colleges, or universities.

[1] Due to major decrease in oil price in 2014[34] and lack of pipeline access to the lucrative Asian market, the abundant natural gas in the Horn River Basin remains untapped.

[35][36] Fort Nelson has experienced substantial contraction in economy, noted by significant reduction in business licenses, long term decline in school enrolment and increase in mortgage foreclosures.

The majority of Fort Nelson's economic activity is currently concentrated in the tourism industry and government sector, and until recently, natural gas extraction and forestry.

As with any gas operation in North America, there are significant concerns to the environmental pollution, First Nations rights, market access and social effects of the industry on the surrounding area.

The boreal woodland caribou protection initiative also significantly curtailed the area allowed for gas extraction, further dampening investor interest.

[41] On 1 January 2020, NorthRiver Midstream, a subsidiary of Brookfield Infrastructure, announced the completion of purchase of Enbridge assets in northeastern British Columbia, one of which includes the biggest private employer in the town.

[42] Shortly afterward on 28 February 2020, NorthRiver Midstream announced the complete shutdown and deactivation of the only gas plant and associated pipelines, resulting in significant job losses of eight local people.

The relatively untouched timber supply was the contributing factor to companies such as Canfor constructing large factories that employed hundreds of people.

Approximately 300,000 tourists, most of whom are retired RV travellers heading to or from Alaska, visit Fort Nelson on an annual basis.

Hunting, fishing, snowmobiling, dog sledding, birdwatching and hiking are all popular outdoor recreational activities that draw thousands of tourists to the region every year.

In 1960, based on significant growth in the oil and gas industry of the region, the Fort Nelson Improvement District was formed in order to provide community members with essential infrastructural needs such as water and sewer services.

[54] As of 2012, citing a lack of a qualified physician, Northern Health advised all pregnant patients that they must travel to other regions (Fort St. John, Grande Prairie, Kelowna) to give birth.

[58][59] Since the departure of Greyhound, residents have found it increasingly difficult to gain access to medical appointments because BC Bus North only has once-weekly scheduled service to serve the community.

[63] A business case was proposed in 2015, but due to the lack of demand, the federal government did not approve the provision of Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) agents.

The Northern Lights College has a small campus situated in Fort Nelson that awards several trades certificates and diplomas to students.

The total number of students has decreased by 12.5% since the 2015/16 school year, making the district a significant outlier in reduced enrolment, due to the collapse in population.